Eligibility of bereavement payments on the loss of a partner (for parents) has been widened to include unmarried parents and that eligibility has been backdated.
AIBU to use the reach of mumsnet to find some of the 16000 parents who have been bereaved of a partner and have not yet claimed the bereavement support payment that they are (now) entitled to?
If this post helps one bereaved family then it has been worthwhile - and it is estimated there are 16000 families out there yet to claim.
The following is what I have understood from the podcast. If you think you could be eligible please check the criteria direct at source and consider putting in a claim.
From the website https://www.childbereavementuk.org/bereavement-support-payments
"This change is being backdated (people eligible to claim child benefit on - my brackets) 30 August 2018, when the Supreme Court ruled that denying these benefits to cohabiting families was unlawful. 21,000 families, some bereaved as long ago as 2001, could be eligible for backdated payments of Bereavement Support Payment (currently worth £9,800) or its predecessor, Widowed Parent’s Allowance."
The "Moneybox" podcast states that you must have been entitled to child benefit on the 30 August 2018 to put in a claim. You also need to be under state pension age (I assume on the same date but I am not certain) and there are two different benefits that parents might be entitled to. Parents whose partner died between 2001 and April 2017 could be eligible for backdated payment of the "Widowed Parents Allowance". Parents whose partner died after April 6 2017 could be entitled to the "Bereavement Support Payment".
The deadline for backdating claims is currently 8 Feb 2024.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r0sl
BBC Money box programme, 30 Sept 2023/ Starts at 8:49
https://www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/about/campaigning/campaigning-for-bereaved-cohabiting-couples
#findthe21K
Go to gov.uk and type in Bereavement Support